Kwanzaa

Last Day of Kwanzaa! Imani – Faith

Darith lighting the Kinara – Photo by Kat Heller Habari Gani! Imani (i-mah’-nee) – Faith. Last night we had a Karamu – Our celebration. Here are some more pics from that. Thanks to our neighbor Kat Heller for taking some photos! The last day...

Kwanzaa Day 6 – Kuumba. Creativity!!!

Habari Gani? Kuumba! It means creativity! We must strive to leave the world a more beautiful place than we found it by using our creative gifts. This is my favorite day of Kwanzaa! It is also the night of Karamu...

Kwanzaa Day 5 – Nia – Purpose

Habari Gani! Nia (nee’-uh) – Purpose. We must live our lives with purpose. We must have goals and aspirations. This is the only way we move forward. This year I got one step closer to being a novelist. This year my son started his...

Kwanzaa Day 4 – Ujamaa – Cooperative Economics.

Habari Gani? Ujamaa (oo-jah’-mah) – Cooperative Economics. Ujamaa means that African Americans must strive to open and maintain businesses. This also means that African Americans should patronize African and African American businesses. My family embraces all local small business. We patronize small bookstores, locally owned restaurants...

Day 3 of Kwanzaa – Ujima

Habari Gani! Ujima (oo-gee’-mah) – Cooperative Work and Responsibility. We must work together to make our families and communities strong. We are responsible for ourselves and we are responsible to our communities. What incidents of Ujima did you encounter in 2017? – I put up a...

Day 2 of Kwanzaa – Kujichagulia

Habari Gani! Kujichagulia (coo’-gee-chah-goo-lee-ah) – Self-Determination. We must strive to define ourselves, understand ourselves, make choices for ourselves, and go through the world as we choose, and not as someone else forces us to. It means to take control of your own destiny. In 2017,...

What is Kwanzaa?

Yes, it is once again Kwanzaa time! Time to eat benne cakes, roll out the Mkeka, set up the Kinara, light the Mishuma Saba, pass around the Kikombe Cha Umoja, and reflect on the Nguzo Saba! Hooray! Before we begin… Kwanzaa is not a Christmas substitute for African Americans…Kwanzaa doesn’t have anything to do with Christmas at all....